Today we reached River Bend Resort in Brownsville Texas, where we will spend the next two months.  We have traveled 1946 miles in the 16 days since we left Virginia Beach. We only drove 5 of those days for an average of around 390 miles a day.  Which is what the title of todays post alludes to.

 I have become that gray haired guy driving the big motorhome in the right lane.  AHHHHHHHHHH!

 On the trip down here I have had more trucks pass me then I have had in my entire driving career. With us pulling the Jeep we are about 57 feet in length and weight over 28000 pounds. Bruce Stewart  a friend who has a 40 foot Winnebago Journey told me he liked to go about 61 mph and he got the best gas mileage that way. So I tried it and have been averaging 8.5 mpg, which I am ecstatic about.  I will just have to get used to the slower speeds and every truck passing me.

Merry Christmas everyone. Hope you are having a great holiday.

 For the first Christmas in a long time we are not  spending it in Florida. We have been parked in Beaux Bridge Louisiana for the past five days at the Cajun Palms RV Resort. Our first morning here we were treated to the sights and sounds of the farmers cutting and transporting sugar cane from the field right next to the park. Quite a process as you can see from the picture below. While here we were able to drive down to New Iberia LA and visit the Konriko Rice Mill and pick up a bag of Jo's favorite Pecan Rice, which smells like popcorn when cooking. We had a new off air antenna installed at the Camping World in Hammond LA on our way here so we can receive the local TV stations. It is always nice to see what is going on around the area we are visiting. Our first night here while watching the Baton Rouge newscast we found out about a local Christmas Eve custom down on the levees of the Mississippi River. It seems that in the days before bridges crossed the river the locals, who are almost all Catholic, would build fires on the north banks of the river so those on the south bank could find there way to midnight mass. Over the past 200 years this tradition had continued and today they use the fires to guide Papa Noel up the river so he can deliver his presents to the children. But from what we saw while walking the levee in the town of Gramercy it is also a great excuse to have a party and set off lots of fireworks.  There are about 125 structures built along the levee some as intricate as a whole house, to the what seems to be more traditional a 20 foot teepee type tower. While walking the levee before they set the fires at 7pm we talked to some of the most friendly folks you could ever met. We had numerous offers to join them for Gumbo that  they were cooking on the spot. Sort of a day long tailgate.

We have a few decorations here in the RV and today for Christmas Dinner we are going to have grilled BBQ Shrimp and Pimento cheese grits. Tomorrow we head west and then south into Texas.

We moved west yesterday from the New Orleans area, but not before having lots of good food ,drink and jazz. As the title above says "Let the good times roll."  We only went into  N'awlins for one day but were able to hit all the great places we have come to know and love on our many visits here.  We bought a Muffalatta and a large bag of Zapps potato chips at the Central Grocery to take home. We had a Hurricane at Pat O Brien's before having lunch at Bayone one of our favorite restaurants in the city which has hundreds of great places to eat. We then walked the French Quarter and stopped to listen to the many Jazz bands playing up and down the street. We then stopped at the Café Du Monde for beignets and coffee a must when visiting this city.

First time I did not have to stop at a rest area for Jo to use the head, she was able to use the head in the RV. Only 70s mile from Virginia Beach on US 58.

First diesel fill-up, 62 gallons @ $3.80 a gallon. You do the math its a lot.

First time driving the RV in torrential rain through South Carolina

First time we were passed by a semi truck, a little scary.

First night boon docking, staying someplace for free. Sam's Club parking lot Savannah GA 

Today was Jo's last day of work , she is now officially retired. She is going to miss this group a whole lot. From left to right: Alex, Eli, Izzy, and Livi. When she started watching them Alex was  9 months old and Izzy was only three weeks old. Now they are 16 years old. Eli is almost 13 and Livi is 11.

We will hit the road tomorrow morning heading south to find some warm weather, then head west to Texas with stops along the way. We will try to keep up the blog to let you know how we are doing. Please check in on us once in awhile and let us know how you are doing too. We will miss all of our Virginia family and friends but we are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives.